Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2022 | 6:29 p.m.
A man was arrested at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas after attempting to purchase a plane ticket with at least three passports of a different identity, and telling Metro Police he was a terrorist and would “blow this place up,” according to an arrest report.
Idan Eliyahu, 35, allegedly approached an airline ticket counter about 4:30 p.m. Sunday, appearing as a woman wearing a black dress, head scarf, at least one face mask and eyeglasses. He presented an invalid boarding pass for a flight to San Francisco, as well as at least three different passports bearing an identity not belonging to him.
The names on the boarding pass and passports did not align, and Eliyahu allegedly told the airline employees it was because the ticket had been purchased by a friend. He could not provide a confirmation number, and refused to lower his face mask to verify his identity, according to the report.
Eliyahu became upset, leaving the counter before eventually returning to try self check-in, the report said.
He also approached another airline and attempted to book a flight to Hawaii, falsely using another identity again, according to the report.
He was encountered by police officers after entering and exiting the women’s restroom, according to the report. He became argumentative, refused to follow their commands or identify himself, and pulled away aggressively when approached.
As he was placed under arrest for resisting the officers, he began “yelling terrorist threats,” telling officers, “I am a terrorist, and I am going to blow this place up.” He allegedly continued making threats while in police custody, according to the report.
Eliyahu was in possession of two U.S. passports and one Australian passport that did not belong to him and claimed to be Muslim, an airline employee told police. He was also in possession of a Nevada driver’s license and an Australia driver’s license — also both of a different identity than his own — a Visa business debit card and an American Express credit card.
As he was being transported from the airport by police, Eliyahu once again claimed to be the person whose identity he had stolen, according to the report.
He was booked into the Clark County Detention Center for obtaining and using another person’s identification for harmful or unlawful purposes, burglary of a business and making threats and conveying false information in reference to an act of terrorism.
